I’m Leaving

I’m Leaving

April 18, 2026

I had written this earlier and had already decided not to publish it. But this morning, I was having breakfast when my wife struck up a conversation with the new owner of the restaurant. At the end of the conversation, she said: That could easily be someone from the program Ik Vertrek.

I used to watch the Dutch TV show Ik Vertrek more often than I do now. The name says it all: Dutch people leaving their country to build a new life elsewhere. What is always fascinating is why people leave. In the case of the Netherlands, it is rarely out of sheer necessity.

These days, the movement seems to be going the other way as well. More and more Dutch people are coming to this region for all sorts of reasons. But that is not what this piece is about.

I have caught myself doing the same.

Not physically, but mentally.

Virtually, I increasingly work and live elsewhere. I look at what is happening here from a distance, even though I am still physically present. That distance changes my perspective. Things that used to occupy my mind affect me less. Not because I have less energy, but because I have less left to give.

And what tends to fall away is the hassle here.

In fact, I am investing my time and energy in building another community. An environment that does recognize what I bring. Where my talents and capabilities are seen and put to use.

Perhaps that is the quiet shift of our time. People do not always leave with suitcases, but with their attention. Not only out of dissatisfaction, but because they experience more value elsewhere.

The question is no longer who will leave.

But who has already left — without anyone noticing.

Miguel Goede